Racetrackmasters

Sebastian Vettel has given a special mention to Maurizio Arrivabene among the most influential people during his Ferrari career. The German driver is moving on from the Scuderia after a six-year spell, during which he recorded 14 race victories but no more World Championships to add to the four he achieved with Red Bull from 2010-13. Aston Martin will be Vettel’s next port of call, replacing Sergio Perez who has subsequently found a place at Red Bull. In an interview with Sky Italia F1, the 33-year-old was asked who the most important person was in his time at Ferrari. Noticeably, given the nature of Vettel’s departure this year when he thought a new contract was in the offing, Mattia Binotto’s name was conspicuous by its absence. Instead, he spoke fondly of Ferrari’s previous team principal, as well as his race engineer with whom he had also teamed up at Toro Rosso. “Riccardo [Adami, track engineer] from my work group, without doubt,” said Vettel. “I travelled with him and it was important to have him as a pillar because we already knew each other. He understood me. In terms of track performance, he was the most important person. “In a larger picture, however, Maurizio Arrivabene. I think that from the outside he was not well understood.” Vettel also referred to the difficult relationship between Arrivabene and Sergio Marchionne, the Ferrari chairman and CEO who died in 2018. “It was not easy to work with Marchionnne,” said Vettel. “He was very particular, he put great pressure on people and with Maurizio he was not always kind. But I think Arrivabene really has a big heart.” Vettel has parted on good terms with his team-mate Charles Leclerc and had further positive words for the driver who, along with new recruit Carlos Sainz, will spearhead Ferrari’s challenge in 2021. “He is certainly very fast and talented,” said Vettel. “He is in a different phase of his career. I was able to learn from him too and it was interesting. I could see something of me in him, as I was 10 years ago. He’s a good guy and I can only say good things. “For sure, this last year has been difficult for me, there were other issues at stake besides having to drive. “But that shouldn’t take away any credit from Charles because everything that is said about him is true – he is strong and mature for his age. He has a bright future ahead of him and will do things right.”

Daniel Ricciardo thinks he has given Lewis Hamilton a gift which will be cherished more than the Brit’s seven world titles – his signed trainer. Ricciardo created the infamous ‘Shoey’ celebration in which he drinks champagne from his sweaty footwear every time he secures a podium place. However, top-three finishes have been hard to come by since Ricciardo left Red Bull for Renault. The charismatic Australian did secure third place twice in 2020 at the Eifel Grand Prix and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. During the latter, Hamilton drank from Ricciardo’s shoe and he stepped down from top spot on the podium. Ricciardo later gifted his British counterpart the item as a present and he joked it was more valuable than the Championship. “What I do is I air them out,” Ricciardo explained to the In the Fast Lane podcast. “I keep those as little trophies. But I actually, because Lewis did his first, I signed the one he drank out of and gave it to him at the next race, so he’s now got something probably more meaningful than seven world titles.” Hamilton won his seventh world title this season to draw level with Michael Schumacher’s record. Ricciardo impressed in his final year with Renault as he ended the campaign fifth in the standings, ahead of his move to McLaren. The 31-year-old was delighted by his own performance but it was Hamilton who stole the majority of the headlines. “The consistency of him being able to do it, and the few mistakes as well, he’s normally nailing his starts, he’s clean, he just executes well when it counts and that’s really what separates the good and the great in this sport,” Ricciardo said. One of the Renault star’s former Red Bull team-mates Max Verstappen also had a solid year as he was the best of the rest. The pair were close allies during their time with the Austrian energy drink brand and Ricciardo is glad to see him doing well. “He definitely did a large step of his development through 2016 and then 2017,” Riccardo reflected.

Around a week after the incident, the Instagram model groped by Nikita Mazepin shared a post urging everyone to “protect drunk girls”. Andrea D’lVal, the Instagram model groped by Nikita Mazepin earlier this month, has seemingly hit out at the Russian racing driver via a series of social media posts. On Tuesday, she posted several posts onto her Instagram story which criticised men for asking her for nudes and sending unsolicited pictures. Furthermore, she shared a couple of posts about putting an end to victim-blaming and “teaching men how to respect women”. Last week, she shared similar posts and subsequently reignited calls for Mazepin to be dropped by Haas. On Wednesday, the Haas F1 Team confirmed that Nikita Mazepin will be driving for them next season and said the incident has been dealt with internally. “Haas F1 Team would like to reaffirm that Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher will form its driver line-up for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. “As per the team’s previous statement regarding the actions of Nikita Mazepin (9 December) – this matter has now been dealt with internally and no further comment shall be made,” the American racing outfit added. This quickly prompted yet more backlash against Mazepin and Haas on social media, with some urging the team’s sponsors to stop funding the F1 constructor.

Haas F1 Team has reaffirmed it is committed to incoming driver Nikita Mazepin in the wake of the video that was posted on his social media channel earlier this month. Mazepin and Ferrari Academy driver Mick Schumacher will move into the Haas team at the expense of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean after it opted for an overhauled line-up.. A video was posted on Mazepin’s Instagram Stories account in which a person inappropriately touched a woman’s breast while they were travelling in a vehicle in the United Arab Emirates. Team Principal Guenther Steiner stated at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the matter would be dealt with internally. A statement released by the team on Wednesday read: “Haas F1 Team would like to reaffirm that Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher will form its line-up for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. “As per the team’s previous statement regarding the actions of Nikita Mazepin (December 9) – this matter has been dealt with internally and no further comment shall be made.” Mazepin had posted an apology on social media but the post, along with all his other messages, have since been deleted.

The Haas Formula 1 team will not fire Nikita Mazpin despite his actions in a recent video and have reaffirmed that he will complete its driver line-up in 2021. Just one week after Haas announced that Mazepin would be making his F1 debut with the team next year, the Formula 2 graduate was shrouded in controversy after a video was uploaded to his Instagram account in which he was shown groping a woman in the back of his car. Haas reacted with an immediate statement condemning Mazepin’s “abhorrent” behaviour and said it would be taking the matter seriously as it dealt with it privately. The American outfit has since released a statement confirming that no changes will be made to its driver line-up for next season and that Mazepin will drive alongside F2 champion Mick Schumacher as planned. Social media users had pointed out a change to both Mazepin and Haas F1 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi’s account bios amid suggestions that the Russian could be replaced by the driver who stood in for the injured Romain Grosjean at the final two rounds of the season. But in a statement released on Wednesday, Haas has dismissed such speculation, insisting that the matter has now been dealt with internally, the result of which will remain private. “Haas F1 Team would like to reaffirm that Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher will form its driver lineup for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship,” a team statement read. “As per the team’s previous statement regarding the actions of Nikita Mazepin (December 9) – this matter has now been dealt with internally and no further comment shall be made.”

Williams says that George Russell returned from his Mercedes outing with several ideas for car improvements – including new clutch paddles – that could help the Formula 1 team in 2021.Russell was drafted in by Mercedes for the Sakhir Grand Prix as replacement for world champion Lewis Hamilton, who had been sidelined by coronavirus. A botched pitstop and late puncture cost Russell the chance of a maiden F1 win, before he returned to Williams for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. While Russell will not be allowed to reveal any of Mercedes’ direct secrets, his knowledge of how the German car manufacturer does things will be invaluable in helping direct Williams to focus on specific areas. One of those almost certainly revolves around the start system, with Russell having made a brilliant getaway in Bahrain after a season where he has failed to find good consistency at Williams. Dave Robson, Williams’ head of vehicle performance, said that Russell already had some suggestions of how to improve things after experiencing what Mercedes does. “It’s something he’s mentioned,” said Robson. “He did a particularly good [start in the Mercedes], and he has had some good starts in our car, but I think what we’re lacking is the consistency. “It’s probably as much down to what they do on their car, than it is the driver. So he’s got some ideas, particularly about how he might like to change the clutch paddle, so the sort of ergonomics of what they do. That’s something we can look at over the winter. “I think probably the whole drivetrain systems are a bit too different, but what tends to be more interesting is the tyre preparation and how you understand the grip that you’re going to have at the start: and therefore what the clutch target is. “There’s probably something for us to learn about there I think.” While the different concepts of the Mercedes and Williams cars means that specifics of the designs cannot be carried across, Robson still thinks there are general concepts of performance that could help his outfit. “The fundamental car pace is probably so different, so we can’t just make our car like there’s, as simply as he [Russell] would obviously like,” he said. “But once we sit down with him properly, we may change the way we prioritise things.”

Former F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr has said he believes the Mercedes F1 Team wants Lewis Hamilton to have a weak team-mate so that he can continue “dominating”

Kimi Raikkonen has said it was “quite clear” Alfa Romeo were not where they wanted to be as early as in pre-season testing. After a strong start under the Alfa Romeo banner, the team started to tail off somewhat in the latter stages of the 2019 campaign and it is safe to say things got no better in 2020. Ultimately, the Swiss-based team would finish the 2020 campaign P8 in the Constructors’ Championship with only eight points to their name. Raikkonen’s tally of four points, identical to team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi’s total, was the lowest points-scoring season of Raikkonen’s Formula 1 career, which began in 2001 with the same team when they were known as Sauber. And Raikkonen feared his team were not where they wanted to be in pre-season testing. “For sure it’s not what we expected before the season started, or wanted,” said Raikkonen, quoted by Motorsportweek.com. “I think it became quite clear after testing that we were not where we wanted to be, but there’s obviously many reasons why we are not as fast as we were. But from that side, it’s obviously disappointing. “Obviously a lot of work has to be done for next year so we are in a better position. “I think last year we did, let’s say, a pretty decent job even if later in the year we were definitively not where we wanted to be. “Obviously hopes were higher, but quite soon obvious for all of us that we weren’t going to be where we liked to be. “We just have to work and try to do a better job next year. But that’s how it goes, some years are more tricky for many reasons and obviously in this sport the car makes a huge difference. “Good or bad, I think every year you have disappointing results, good results and some results in the middle. It’s the name of the game.” At the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix Raikkonen officially became the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history in terms of race starts, taking the record from Rubens Barrichello. The Finn has 329 starts to his name heading into the 2021 season.

Lewis Hamilton has still not signed a contract for 2021. According to former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger, the negotiations are only about one subject, and that is money. After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Toto Wolff and Hamilton indicated that they would finally sit down to negotiate his contract. Berger tells ServusTV that according to him Wolff is in a good position, because of the good performance of George Russell in the Mercedes. He can therefore ask Hamilton to lower his demands. “Hamilton is eaten away by ambition. He sent messages all weekend when he couldn’t drive. But he didn’t write a single congratulation to Russell. He wants to dominate and play the main role. But Russell has already shown what he can do with a Williams as well,” says the Austrian. In addition to the current world champion’s contract, there is a lot to do about the seat next to Hamilton. Bottas would be under pressure, but the Finn has a contract for 2021. “Contracts must be kept and as far as I know, Bottas has a contract for 2021. They have committed already to going into the future with him,” says Berger. The ten-time Formula 1 winner concludes: “Bottas doesn’t have the speed of Russell. I don’t know whether they can decide behind the scenes to take a different route.”

Mattia Binotto has confirmed reports that several Ferrari employees will work on the design and development of Haas’ 2021 car – at Maranello. When it emerged that designer Simone Resta is moving to Haas with Mick Schumacher, some suggested Resta will actually remain based at Ferrari’s factory. Ferrari boss Binotto now confirms that. “These people will work in Maranello in a completely different building to where Ferrari works,” he told racingnews365.nl. “They also have no access to the building in which the Scuderia works. They are completely separate from each other.” Binotto insists that Haas remains a Ferrari “customer”, but he admits that the teams will be more closely aligned from 2021. “Some of our people will join their team,” said the Italian. “I think this is a great opportunity for Haas because it offers them organisational and technical advantages. “We also needed people to leave because we have to reduce the team as a result of the budget cap,” Binotto admits. However, the Italian said Ferrari and Haas will remain “completely independent” from one another. “It is not a junior team of ours and we will not exchange information outside the rules that have been set about this,” Binotto explained. “But because we have to downsize, I am very happy that our boys can go to Haas and not be available for another team. That’s how we look at the collaboration.”

Helmut Marko claims Sergio Perez’s knowledge on the Mercedes engine was an important factor in his signing with Red Bull F1

Nikita Mazepin is in danger of losing his seat with the Haas Formula One team for the 2021 season. Following a video posted to Instagram that has since been deleted, concerns have been raised over Mazepin’s reputation for the brand and the team’s sponsors after he filmed himself groping a young woman’s breast in the back seat of Porsche. Model Andrea D’Ival has since downplayed the incident as a ‘joke’. The video caused outrage among F1 fans and the #WeSayNoToMazepin hashtag grew quickly in a move to try and ban the Russian from entering the grid next year, but it could prove difficult given his father’s influence and investment. Ms D’Ival appeared to push Mazepin away from her in the footage as he grabbed her chest, raising her middle finger at the camera. He captioned the video: ‘She’s the best.’ However, writing on her Instagram Stories, she said: ‘Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that Nikita and I have been friends for a long time and nothing in the video was meant seriously. ‘We trust each other and it’s just been fun between the two of us. I posted the video as a joke in his story. I’m really sorry.’ After Haas announced they would deal with the matter internally, Mazepin was quick to issue an apology for the video. ‘I would like to apologise for my recent actions, both in terms of my own inappropriate behaviour, and the fact that it was posted on to social media,’ he wrote. ‘I am sorry for the offence I have rightly caused and to the embarrassment I have brought to Haas F1 Team. ‘I have to hold myself to a higher standard as a Formula One driver and I acknowledge I have let myself and many people down. I promise I will learn from this.’ The controversy has left the team’s brand and sponsors concerned about their reputation by associating themselves with the 21-year-old, who is set to race alongside Mick Schumacher next season. Despite Haas deciding the stick by their driver, Mazepin has now removed ‘F1 driver’ from his bio on social media and replaced with ‘Racing Driver’, adding fuel to the rumours that he may have lost his seat. Meanwhile, Piettro Fittipaldi could be set to replace him in the team as he had added the Haas’ credentials to his online profiles. The Brazilian stepped in at the end of the 2020 season following Romain Grosjean’s horror crash in the Bahrain Grand Prix for the final two races of the season. Mazepin is the son of billionaire businessman Dmitry Mazepin, who is set to invest heavily in the team following his son’s induction into the paddock. However, the 21-year-old has been at the centre of trouble before, after he punched British driver Callum Ilott in the paddock four years ago. The Russian, then a Force India F1 development team star, was banned from the first race of the Hungaroring Formula 3 European Championship after the steward found him guilty of ‘unsporting behaviour in the paddock after the finish of free practice two.’ Mazepin believed Ilott had cut him up in the pits and blocked him from getting a new set of tyres so he got out of his car and struck Ilott. Ilott was said to have suffered cuts to his face, a swollen jaw and a black eye.

Alexander Albon says “it hurts” after he was replaced at Red Bull by Sergio Perez for the 2021 season. British-Thai Albon, 24, was demoted to be the team’s reserve driver as 30-year-old Mexican Perez was brought in to partner Max Verstappen. “I gave it everything out there, but it wasn’t quite enough,” said Albon on social media. “I have more to give and my focus is getting back for 2022 and to wave the Thai flag again.” Albon was out-qualified by Verstappen at every race in 2020, and was on average 0.523 seconds a lap slower. In races, while Verstappen took two wins and nine other podiums finishes in 17 races, Albon’s best results were two third places in the Tuscan and Bahrain Grands Prix.